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FG Considers Non-conviction based Procedures for Recovery of Stolen Assets
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami
- Seeks repatriation of stolen assets, recovers $700m
By Kingsley Nwezeh
In a renewed bid to recover the country’s stolen assets, the federal government has said it was considering non-conviction based procedures to quicken its assets recovery drive.
It is also seeking repatriation of the nation’s stolen wealth from off-shore destinations even as it announced the recovery of $700 million from United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland.
Speaking at the International Conference on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Assets Recovery organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commision (ICPC), the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), said government was considering applying non-conviction based procedures to reduce time spent in court.
“We are using different mechanisms, including voluntary asset declaration process approved by President Buhari in Executive Order 008. In this way, we believe that if Nigerians or Nigerian entities come forward to declare their assets wherever located, the government will apply a levy against those assets and also bring the assets within the tax regime.
“We are also considering different ways to apply non-conviction based procedures in asset recovery to make it less cumbersome and to reduce the time spent in court. The focus of law enforcement should be to move towards contemporary developments in international law – one of which is to move against assets that are illicit with or without a criminal conviction, especially where there is a voluntary declaration, a plea bargain or where the person in question has absconded”, he said.
Malami said government recovered $700 million from four countries in the past four years.
“You are already aware that Nigeria through proactive and collaborative efforts with other countries has recovered and ensured the return of over $700 million from the US, the UK, Bailiwick of Jersey, Switzerland, and Ireland in the past four years.
“We are still working with our international partners and other countries to ensure that all Nigeria’s assets that are identified are recovered”, he said.
In her remarks, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said it was imperative for countries which are destinations of illicit financial flows to take urgent steps to combat the scourge.
“It is important that we strengthen governance structures and adopt policies that enable legitimate transactions, and address the abuse of tax practices.
Africa must have a seat at the table and be well represented during negotiations about illicit funds and their proceeds.
“It is also critical that countries that are the main destination for illicit financial flows and their proceeds take urgent steps to assist in combating this scourge, preventing the inflow of illicit funds, freezing or seizing assets already in the country, and by ensuring that illicit funds and any proceeds are repatriated”, she said.
She noted that “asset recovery is critical to domestic resource mobilisation, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in Nigeria we have taken proactive steps towards the recovery of stolen assets, in part through engagement with multilateral stakeholders, bilateral agreements on the return of stolen assets with several critical destination countries including the United States and Switzerland and the establishment of an independent Financial Intelligence Unit within the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“More needs to be done across Africa to ensure the recovery of stolen assets, and there is need for enhanced support to African countries from the international community in building the capacity and systems necessary to ensure sustained and effective asset recovery”.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanonye, said the anti-graft agency in collaboration with the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AU-ABC) and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) organised the conference for discussion of international asset recovery, the role of enablers and facilitators and the need for beneficial ownership standards, the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR), and the Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI) Panel Report, in the context of the global agenda to stem IFFs to highlight the goals and challenges.
“The experience of Nigeria with the now notorious P&ID case shows that bogus and sometimes genuine investment contracts are among the leading sources of IFFs from developing countries”, he said.
